Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Alfred Crabtree cannot find his false teeth. Making the situation even more dire is the fact that he has many belongings among which they could be hidden. Overwhelmed, he calls his sister for advice. Stressing the need for organization, she suggests categorization. Hats are sorted with other hats, duck decoys are grouped together, as are portraits and favorite foods. "It is no fun to be hungry when you are looking for your false teeth." Unfortunately, sorting spreads Alfred's stuff out even more and leaves barely any room to move around. Needing additional advice, he calls another sister, who suggests putting everything in boxes. Alfred now has boxes labeled "Small yapping dogs," "Shells" (including pasta), "Broken Things," and "I Don't Know What These Things Are." Worn out and still without his teeth, he calls yet another sister. She asks if he looked in his "teeth closet" and, voila, there they are. Exhausted from all his looking, sorting, packing, and stacking, Alfred, wearing a toothy grin, decides to take a cruise on a ship that just happens to have room for all his boxes. This oversize book with foldout pages barely manages to contain the items cluttering Alfred's life. The loose, colorful illustrations with humorous captions will delight readers, even if some need to be explained (swizzle stick, cassette tape) and may inspire others to try drawing the things in their life. It may also inspire some closet cleaning.-Sara-Jo Lupo Sites, George F. Johnson Memorial Library, Endicott, NY (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Forgetful Alfred Crabtree has misplaced his false teeth and begins to organize his many possessions in an effort to find them. Every page of this oversize volume serves as a catalog of Alfred's world, each item labeled (sometimes literally, sometimes not) and creatively categorized. The dizzying cacophony of color and line extends into the book jacket, which unfolds into a dual-sided poster. (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Trying to find his false teeth, Alfred Crabtree is forced to organize his stuff. And he really has a lot of stuff. Strewn in the hundreds across large spreads and even one double gatefold, Alfred's possessions are easy enough to recognize since they're drawn in a simple cartoon style and conveniently labeled. Categorizing, however, really isn't his strong suit--so even browsers who aren't particularly sharp-eyed will have no trouble noticing, for instance, the traffic cone in his row of "Hats Helmets" or the hot-dog bun amid "Tools Utensils." Creative labeling ranging from rhymed combinations of favorite foods ("Spam and a yam," "Hash stew with cashews") to a set of flint spear points dubbed "old tools" and, in a movie reference less likely to be caught by children than by their parents, a "stinkin' badge" will also produce chuckles. Following one spread of "Broken Things" and another of ambiguous items headed "I Don't Know What These Things Are," Alfred, exhausted, gets a savvy suggestion from his sister that ends his search. That search, at least: The rear endpapers are a bulletin board of other misplaced items that may tempt viewers to go back and find them. A witty alternative to Richard Scarry's classic visual inventories or the simpler I Spy challenges. (huge foldout poster) (Picture book. 5-9)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
